Having achieved improvements of all key earnings figures for Fiscal Year 2014/2015 (1 October 2014 through 30 September 2015), SCHOTT AG plans to push ahead and continue with its growth strategy. The Group’s EBIT reached EUR 178 million, marking a major increase from the EUR 135 million in Fiscal Year 2013/2014. In addition, group earnings of EUR 95 million (EUR 66 million) and an operative cash flow with EUR 209 million (EUR 182 million) made clear gains over the previous year. “Our focus was primarily on improving profitability in 2015, a goal which we fully met. Needless to say, we are pleased with the results of the last fiscal year,” emphasized Dr. Frank Heinricht, chairman of the management board, at the company’s recent annual results press conference.

Global sales were up by 3 % to EUR 1.93 billion (EUR1.87 billion). When adjusted for currency fluctuations and portfolio measures, sales rose by 4.4 percent. The foreign share of sales remained unchanged at 86 percent. Almost half of the total sales were in Europe, with North America and Asia each accounting for a quarter respectively and South America coming in at about 10 percent. The Group employs 15,000 individuals globally with a headcount of 5,200 in Germany, headquarters for the company.

Group restructuring successfully implemented
During the previous fiscal year, management continued restructuring the Group. Measures included withdrawing from the market for machine vision applications by selling its majority shares in SCHOTT Moritex Corporation in Japan, the sale of its food display business in North America as well as the restructuring of the business segment, “Concentrated Solar Power”, due to weak demand. Thus, all respective sales disposals associated with these areas were more than offset by the financial improvements in almost every other business segment. Particularly gratifying were the business results in pharmaceutical packaging, hermetic enclosures used to protect sensitive electronic components as well in the worldwide-leading brand CERAN® glass-ceramic cooktops.

Positive development in all key earnings
Chief Financial Officer Klaus Rübenthaler announced a further reduction of financial liabilities in the last fiscal year, dropping from EUR 182 million to EUR 156 million. Meanwhile, company assets rose by EUR 118 million to EUR 519 million (EUR 401 million). Thus, the Group’s equity ratio moved upwards from 18 % to 24 %. For investments in fixed assets, the company spent EUR 156 million (EUR 135 million) including for the expansion of production capacity of CERAN® glass-ceramic cooktops in Mainz as well as for the construction of a new melting tank used for pharmaceutical packaging at its manufacturing facility in Mitterteich (Upper Palatinate). Overall, according to Rübenthaler, SCHOTT is “a solidly financed company which currently finds itself well positioned to build the future, possessing the necessary financial resources to realize those goals”.

Fiscal Year 2015/2016: Continued growth planned / EUR 190 million for investments in fixed assets

For the current fiscal year, SCHOTT plans to continue with a focus on growing its business. The company anticipates a sales increase somewhere between 3% and 5 %, achieved through consistently improving its profitability. “In the years ahead, we are looking to successfully launch a number of innovations on the global market. In addition, we want to grow our company in target regions as well as through acquisitions,” states Group CEO Dr. Heinricht. Some of these innovations include ultra-thin glass for semiconductor technology, glass-aluminum sealing solutions for electrolytic capacitators and lithium-ion batteries as well as transparent high- tech special ceramics for thermal imaging cameras and projector light sources. The Group has earmarked EUR 190 million to invest in its fixed assets, a significant increase over the previous year. One investment priority is a new production facility for pharmaceutical packaging (vials and ampoules) located south of Shanghai.

Key Earning Figures for Fiscal Year 2014/2015

Key Earnings in millions €

2014/2015

2013/2014

Change
in %

Sales

1,927

1,870

3

Results prior to Interest and Taxes (EBIT)

178

135

31

Group Earnings

95

66

43

Cash Flow for Current Operating Costs

209

182

15

Investments in Fixed Assets

156

135

16

R&D Applications

79

86

-9

Employees on Balance Sheet Date (Number)

15,016

15,445

-3

SCHOTT is a leading international technology group in the areas of specialty glass and glass-ceramics. The company has more than 130 years of outstanding development, materials and technology expertise and offers a broad portfolio of high-quality products and intelligent solutions. SCHOTT is an innovative enabler for many industries, including the home appliance, pharmaceutical, electronics, optics, automotive and aviation industries. SCHOTT strives to play an important part of everyone’s life and is committed to innovation and sustainable success. The group maintains a global presence with production sites and sales offices in 35 countries. With its workforce of approximately 15,000 employees, sales of 1.93 billion euros were generated in fiscal year 2014/2015. The parent company, SCHOTT AG, has its headquarters in Mainz (Germany) and is solely owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. As a foundation company, SCHOTT assumes special responsibility for its employees, society and the environment. www.schott.com